Ideas for the dogs

Trying to come up with ideas for the dogs.

When I first read the story, the first image I got was of these huge dogs, keeping the eyes in proportion to the body (so the dog with eyes the size of towers as an absolute behemoth). Kind of also adds an unrealistic approach to the story. Maybe in-game I'd have to downsize the dogs. As I was reading however, I invisioned the Colossi from Shadow of the Colossus.

I think there's something like 13 in total. They each draw inspiration from different things (birds, knights, bulls etc.) and the developers have turned these ideas into these gigantic stone structures (well, most are huge, I think there's two that are the size of a Rhino).

I was thinking of having something similar. Not quite as big, but some sort of mythical creature for the dogs. More than likely, these dogs are magical creatures of some form because they're summoned when the tinderbox is struck and simply seem to appear into being.

I took a moment to think of what other mystical dogs exist and very quickly remembered Cerberus, the gate guard of the Underworld. Obviously being a mythical creature, part of the designs would be down to interpretations, but the basic idea of Cerberus is a three headed dog with a serpent's tail, a mane of snakes and a lion's claws.

I also looked at Fluffy, the three headed dog from Harry Potter with a direct inspiration from Cerberus. Although Fluffy doesn't guard the Underworld, he does guard the trapdoor that leads down to the Philosopher's Stone.

  I also keep thinking of these shadow creatures. The typical kind of shadow form with smoke billowing off, red glowing eyes, that sort of thing. I wont copy this design precisely as, over the years, it's become stale, but it's something to work on.

The next step really is to come up with some silhouettes and see what happens.